On December 4, 2012, the Boise City Council unanimously approved an Anti-Discrimination Ordinance prohibiting the discrimination in the City of Boise on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in matters of employment, housing and places of public accommodation. Thus, effective January 1, 2013, it is illegal for a Boise employer to deny any person because of sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression the “right to work,” which includes acts such as the failing or refusing to hire, discharging, barring from employment, and discriminating in compensation or in other terms or conditions of employment. The Ordinance sets forth exceptions regarding religious organizations, expressive associations whose employment of a person would significantly burden the association’s rights of expressive association, and other governmental entities, among other things. A violation of the Ordinance is a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine and six months in jail, or both. A prosecutor may reduce the violation to an infraction, payable by a $100 fine, if the employer engages in corrective actions.
Boise is the second Idaho city to pass an anti-discrimination ordinance, following the lead of Sandpoint, Idaho. Other cities in Idaho, such as Pocatello, have added comprehensive non-discrimination employment policies affecting only city employees. A copy of the Boise City Anti-Discrimination Ordinance can be found here.
For more information, please contact Brad Miller at 208.388.4832.